Some People Never Learn
by Holy Musical Batman
Summary: The Avengers did it! And the city of Manhattan celebrates by throwing a party! Thor had decided that rather than stay, he would go see Jane Foster. Feeling strangely hollow without Thor, the team attends the party, only to have it go haywire. Where has Bruce gone? And will the help of a mysterious young woman be enough to find him? Steve/OC. Rated M for Tony Stark's language.
1. The Red Carpet Becomes Green, Sort Of

**A/N: **Many thanks unto you, the reader of my first fan-fiction! I will be updating every Wednesday (Well, in Australia it's a Wednesday for me.) So you can be sure to get a weekly dose of **SPNL**. Once again, thank-you, thank-you for clicking my fanfic, hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Avengers. The Avengers are owned by Marvel. Rebekah was created and is owned by me, however.

** Chapter One-** The Red Carpet Becomes Green, Sort Of.

"I really don't think that this will be such a good idea, Tony" Bruce said, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. Tony heaved an exasperated sigh.  
"Well I don't care, we're all going, and that includes you!" Tony put his hands on the slim doctor's shoulders and pushed him over to a workbench, where a new-looking duffel bag sat next to a ridiculously complicated microscope. "Take that to your room, and put it on"  
"Tony, I-"  
"Come on Big Guy! Hurry up, everyone else is going!" Tony interrupted, sounding more and more like a teenage girl by the second. Bruce hung his head to hide his smile, lifting up the bag, he fixed Tony with a look that strangely matched the look of a child that has been scolded. Embarrassed he slung the duffel bag over his shoulder, and headed to his bedroom. Tony followed him out the door, shaking his head."Jarvis, turn out the lights"  
"Certainly, Sir"

The Avengers met Happy in the bright, clean lobby. Clint was talking quietly to Natasha in Russian, who looked beautifully dangerous in a long black dress, artfully split up the side all the way to her thigh. Steve was chatting animatedly to Happy, who was watching him with a kind of rapt attention that wasn't unlike that of the late Phil Coulson. Tony stood alone, waiting for Bruce, he knew that he probably shouldn't have pushed Bruce into coming with them. He was already insecure. But it's our party,he thought, why shouldn't he come?. The elevator doors opened smoothly and Bruce stepped out, fiddling with the left cuff of his suit jacket. Speak of the Devil, and the Devil shall appear. He looked up and Tony clapped his hands together unintentionally loudly, Natasha's head snapped around at the noise.  
"Well, lets get going"  
Happy stood up and walked out the door. The Avengers followed, Tony excited-looking, Steve unsure, Natasha and Clint bored. It seemed as if they had been to one too many ceremonies, whether undercover or not. Bruce, true-to-form was nervous, he walked slowly, as if he thought if he moved slow enough, they would leave him behind. Steve smiled at the small doctor as Tony steered Bruce to the front of the line.  
"Come on" Tony said, slightly miffed. "Shuffling is for slow-pokes and Steve, we've got a party to go to!" Bruce made a face as Clint smirked behind his hand, Natasha shook her head at Tony's childishness.  
Happy held the limousine door open as they filed in. Bruce deliberately sat in the very front corner of the expansive black and maroon interior. To compensate, Tony sat next to him. Bruce sighed and shuffled closer to the clear screen that separated them from Happy. Natasha sent Bruce a scrutinising look as the car started moving, the engine purring quietly.

The trip was surprisingly quiet and short, and before the team knew it, Happy had pulled the car up, and gently opened the door. A wave of voices and clicks of cameras filled the empty void of sound as Natasha and Clint walked down the red carpet, pretty much ignoring the cameras completely, bar a few which they smiled weakly for. Steve came next, smiling politely for a few photographers, the cameras clicked away madly. Tony pried Bruce's hand from the door and practically dragged Bruce down the carpet, stopping for a multitude of photos, Bruce blinked, dazzled by the multiple bright flashes, trying to grin. This went on for quite some time before the flashes stopped, and they walked inside the hall.

The stage up the front of the large hall was dimly lit, a row of 6 chairs sat to the side, and a highly polished podium sat center stage. There was a flutter of the velvet red curtain, and it opened just a fraction, before closing again.

The walls were adorned with photographs and paintings of all of The Avengers, Clint whistled low. They really had gone all out! They weaved amongst the multiple groupings of tables, acknowledging glances, returning 'hello's' and accepting unnecessary thanks, occasionally stopping to shake hands with the odd person or sign pictures and pieces of paper.  
When they finally made it to the table, Steve pulled out a chair for Natasha, who smiled, an odd look for her. Once they were seated, a door to the left burst open, causing Bruce to jump. Into the cavernous room piled hundreds of waiters and waitresses, all wearing a similar white and black uniform, accented by a tie. Tony noticed that the ties ranged in colours from purple, black, red, gold, blue, green and silver. Awesome, where is our hot waitress? He thought, watching a particularly pretty one head over to a table nearby and begin talking.

Clint nudged Tony's elbow and pointed to a waitress skirting the outside of the stage, she had a small white slip of paper, they watched as she glanced at it and started, a shocked look crossed her face, and she glanced at it again, before her hand fell back down to her side, and she began zig-zagging between the tables, before stopping at the front of theirs, smiling a little too brightly.

"Hello, my name is Desiree, and I will be your waitress for tonight." She said sweetly, brushing her sandy-brown fringe behind her right ear. She placed the silver embossed menus in front of each of The Avengers. Clint picked his up almost immediately, Steve smiled up at her in thanks and she blushed.

The chairs and tables around them were filling quite quickly, and the noise had gradually gotten louder and louder. Bruce was becoming uncomfortable with the multiple glances and occasionally the odd sentence being thrown his way, he answered in short form, hands fidgeting in his lap.

"What can I get you to drink?" She asked Steve, when he put his menu down lightly on the silken tablecloth. He put his hands on the table in front of him, clasped together.  
"A glass of Lemonade, please" She nodded, and her hand flew quickly across the book in her hand. She looked to Natasha, who was glancing round the room, but didn't miss the waitress looking.  
"Caramel Kahlua Malt, thanks" Desiree looked to Clint who was watching Natasha with an odd kind of rapt attention.  
"Uh, Corona, please" She moved around the table.  
"Scotch on the rocks" Tony said simply. "Please," He added after look from Steve. Lastly it was Bruce's turn.  
"Oh, um. Tonic Water, please" He said quietly, wringing his hands, staring down at the menu open on the table. She nodded and closed her book.  
"I'll just go get your drinks" She turned and walked away, heading towards the door she had come through, which was now bustling with hurried waiters and waitresses.

"Tonic Water, Lemonade?" Tony said, laughing "It's our party, why not have some alcohol?" Bruce looked down at his hands, and Steve looked at Tony, slightly miffed.  
"I can't get drunk, and not everyone drinks alcohol constantly" Steve said shortly as Bruce looked up. There was a scraping of a chair as the person at the table beside them stood.  
"Yes, um. I don't react to alcohol too well, and I just don't see the point of it" Bruce said, seemingly as quickly as he could, before lapsing into his comfortable silence. The man from the table beside them walked out the door, looking annoyed.

Shaking his head, he looked to Tony, who was fiddling with a sort of bracelet on his wrist, that was projecting a holographic image of some sort of laser device. He twisted a small dial, and a formula came up. All Steve understood was that is was a continuous line of letters, numbers and symbols, but Tony seemed to collect something from it, for he was nodding at it and mumbling under his breath.

Desiree came back, and with a quiet clinking of glasses, set their drinks down in front of them. Clint reached over and sniffed at Natasha's drink, who made a face as.  
"Hey, that actually smells pretty good!" He said, and Natasha pulled her drink over a little closer to herself. Tony took a big mouthful of his drink, and sighed blissfully. Desiree then placed a wicker bread basket on the table. The sharp smell of warm garlic bread invaded Clint's nostrils, and he lunged forward to grab a piece so quickly that Desiree jumped, her book falling to the floor with dull 'thud'. She looked around the table apologetically. Picking up her booklet, her face flushed. Steve smiled at the young woman's awkwardness in serving them.

"So, what may I get you all to eat?" She asked, and waited politely. Bruce nudged Tony gently.  
"Yeah, Big Guy?" He said, slightly airily.  
"I'm going to go outside for some air," Bruce said, flinching away from the table behind him as a chorus of raucous laughter began. "It's a little too crowded in here" Steve leaned over the table as Clint told Desiree what he would like to eat.  
"I'll come with you" Steve said, and got to his feet, Desiree raised her heavily pencilled eyebrows at him, but turned to Natasha, pen poised and at the ready. Steve waded between the sea of tables, Bruce following closely behind, and led him out the glass doors.

Bruce breathed in, and sighed, sitting on a metal chair from a nearby outdoor setting. There was a light hum of chatter here, but it was much quieter in comparison to inside the hall, where the chatter reverberated like a furious humming of bees.  
"I'm not a fan of crowded places" Bruce muttered, glancing around at the smaller, much less crowded grouping of tables.  
"India?" Steve said contradictively.  
"That was different" Bruce laughed breathily. "It was crowded where S.H.I.E.L.D found me working, it is, er... secluded where I lived" He looked out of the balcony, and up at the night sky, a deep blue colour, with a light sprinkling of stars here and there. Steve nodded, and smiled slightly.

"Oh. I see, I read your f-" Steve started, a gunshot echoed off the buildings, startling Bruce, Steve and the numerous people sitting on the balcony. A woman let out a sharp shriek as Steve vaulted over the railing, sprinting towards what Bruce guessed to be the source of the sound. The people filed inside as Bruce got up, leaning over the railing, watching as Steve disappeared around the corner. Sighing he jumped down the stairs two at a time, and jogged around the corner Steve had just taken, he walked along the street behind the hall.

It seemed as if, after the Chitauri attack, this street had been condemned. The cracks in the asphalt created potholes in the road. To his left, a street light flickered, emitting a shower of orange sparks with a loud 'pop!'. He flinched as another gunshot went off to his left, and he dashed into an alleyway, expecting to see Steve.

The person waiting in the shadows was definitely not Steve, Bruce inhaled sharply as the lighting in the alleyway flicked on, then off again. The figure smiled, standing in a provocative pose, his grey-green army uniform decorated with numerous badges, another flicker of light threw his face into sharp contrast. The grey hair, square jaw, straight teeth and malevolent glare.

Bruce's watch started beeping erratically, and the man nodded to Bruce's left. Bruce heard a rustle of clothing, and then a sharp pain pierced his side. His heart slowed almost immediately, beating sluggishly in his chest, his eyelids growing heavy.  
"A diversion...the gunshot." Bruce slurred, swaying. The man nodded.

General Thaddeus E. (Thunderbolt) Ross, stepped forward, grinning toothily.  
"Exactly, Dr. Banner, a diversion."

Ross laughed as a bag was placed over Bruce's head, blocking out his weakening vision.  
"Put him in the car, quickly" was the last thing he heard.

**A/N: **There you go! My first chapter! What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Want to strangle me for not including Thor? Let me know by clicking that review button down there and sending one in...or do whatever you want. I'm not choosy. Oh, by the way...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! :P


	2. Where's Banner?

**A/N: **Like my my fan-fiction eh? Just once I thought I'd break one of my rules, so here's chapter two. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Avengers. The Avengers are owned by Marvel. Rebekah was created and is owned by me, however.

**Chapter Two- **"So, uh...Where's Banner?"

"So," said Desiree, standing in front of their table, her eyes on the retreating backs of Steve and Bruce. "What can I get you?" Natasha gazed down at her menu, Clint sighed. Tony laughed and turned around to have a conversation with a young man seated at the table behind them. He stayed like that for about five minutes, answering the eager boy in detail. When he seemed satisfied, he turned around and picked up his menu, before closing it and looking up at Desiree.

"I'll have a r-" Desiree shrieked and her booklet fell to the floor with a clatter as a loud gunshot echoed through the room. There was a great scraping of chairs. Tony was on his feet almost immediately, the noise in the hall was cranked up until he could only see Clint shouting at him. A second gunshot tore through the air. Now it was getting hectic.

People hurried to leave, all moving towards the front door. Tony looked around the sea of heads for any sign of Bruce or Steve, Natasha had gotten up onto the stage, raced behind the curtain and shown up on the other side before Tony noticed Steve, bouncing and waving frantically on the other side of the room. Clint climbed up a beam to his left, racing across the rafters like a tightrope walker put on fast forward. Tony managed to regather his senses and walked straight over the stage, like Natasha.

He looked down momentarily and saw Desiree looking around in the huge crowd, expression shocked. She seemed to gather her thoughts before being pulled out the front door by another woman, about the same age as her, Tony watched her go.  
Tony raced down the oak stairs, finally meeting Steve, who grabbed him by the arm and pulled him outside.

"Where's Doctor Banner?" Natasha asked, and Steve's face fell. Tony immediately realised this would not be good. He waited, finding it hard to swallow.  
"I went to go find the source of the gunshots, I followed the noise to the place. But no-one was there"

"And Doctor Banner?" Clint asked.  
"I left him here...And when I came back..." Steve's expression was enough for Tony.  
"He was gone" Tony finished, and Steve nodded.  
"Maybe he wanted to leave?" Clint asked, but Tony shook his head.  
"He told me, when the Avenger's Tower was refurbished, that he much preferred here than Calcutta. He was the first to move in, remember?"

"Well, where do we think he may have gone?" Natasha asked, and Clint looked at his feet.  
"I went to see Fury last Monday" Clint said, more to his shoes than The Avengers. "And I walked in and saw him arguing with a man in an army uniform. They stopped as soon as I walked in, but I had heard a little bit before, something like 'He can't be around normal people!'" He looked around guiltily, Steve patted his shoulder.  
"Ah," said Tony, and Steve stood up a little straighter.

"Before we go jumping to conclusions, we better start looking for him" Clint said, and Steve looked over his shoulder.  
"Alright," He agreed "We'll split up. Agent Romanoff; Search the Southside. We'll rendezvous here" Natasha spun on her heel and ran off, looking ridiculously sleek. "Agent Barton, Westside" Clint nodded.  
"You got it, Cap" He ran around the edge of the building and out of sight.  
"Tony, North" Tony smiled, pushing up the cuff of his suit to reveal the wrist cuff he had been playing with earlier, he held his arm up and out.

There was a hum from the bracelet. Almost instantly, holographic images of his armour appeared on his forearm, travelling down his side, covering his entirety With a much louder hum, and a small flash of blue light, the pieces solidified, covering him in his traditional red and gold armour. Tony reached over to his own arm and tapped it, he smiled and his face plate slid down.  
"It works, awesome!" He flew off North and Steve shook his head. You had to expect the impossible with Tony. But still...  
"Show off" Steve muttered, despite the small grin on his face as he ran off East.

They had to find Bruce, and they would.

**Undisclosed Location**

Doctor Banner took a deep gulp of fresh air as the bag was whipped off his head, he blinked spasmodically trying to adjust to the bright white light overhead. He stared around, he was sitting in a metal chair, bound at the ankles, and an intravenous drip sat beside the chair, the small hose looped around the pole, out and around his wrist, stopping at the back of his hand, where it was taped down. He reached over, and tugged at it. A harsh female voice came over the intercom.

"Please don't touch that" His hand jerked back reflexively, putting it back in his lap. He looked up at the roof. It was an off-white colour, and a grey speaker was in the corner, next to a surveillance camera. He looked to his left, and a young man in a white lab coat emblazoned with what Bruce guessed to be a coat of arms. It was a small circle with what Bruce recognised to be a grenade and a DNA strand. Along the bottom of the circle were the letters T.I.D.E.  
"Who are you?" Bruce slurred, and the man froze, looking nervous. Bruce started, this boy could be no older than 15.  
"Me?-I'm-I'm, uh, Gerald" Gerald moved over, a pitying look on his face as he adjusted the drip, and a small trickle of the grey-ish liquid made it's way slowly down the hose.  
"Gerald, who do you work for?" Gerald looked at the tinted glass on the opposite wall.  
"I work for Technological Intervention and Development of Elites, T.I.D.E for short" He said softly, and Bruce suddenly realised the young boy's oddly purple complexion and bright ochre eyes.  
"Gerald, are you okay?" Bruce asked, more concerned for the boy than what was happening to him.  
"Hm? Oh yes, I'm okay" Gerald stopped, slightly suspicious "Why?"

"Your colour is a bit...odd" Gerald nodded, and Bruce's eyebrows rose.  
"It's the way I am..." Gerald said simply, and a woman walked in the door, carrying a syringe with a very long needle.  
"Gerald, General would like to see you" She said, her voice exactly the same as the harsh one that had burst over the intercom just moments ago. Gerald nodded, and practically raced out the door.  
"I just need to collect some blood samples, Doctor Banner" She said, and Bruce shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he felt the thick grey liquid from the I.V. start to trail through his veins, as paced as his slowing heart.  
"Still, please, Doctor Banner" Bruce froze, and immediately realised that he shouldn't have.  
He inhaled sharply as the tip of the needle pierced his skin.

Blood samples?

The Avengers needed to find him, and soon.

**A/N: **Really, really, really little chapter. Just something I had to get out. I promise the next will be longer. Anyway...Reviews? XD


	3. A White-Hot Helping Hand

**A/N: **Wow! Two favourites overnight...That was more than I was expecting! So, as a thank-you...Here's another chapter early! Cookies to ** KelseyHalliwell **and **Lorelee13**!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Avengers. The Avengers are owned by Marvel. Rebekah was created and is owned by me, however.

**Red Carpet Event-**Rendezvous Point

"Steve, we couldn't find him at all...I went inside the buildings...A one mile radius and he wasn't anywhere" Natasha said, and Clint nodded.  
"I couldn't find him either,"  
"Nothing..." Tony said, and Steve's heart sank just a little more, settling in the nether regions of his stomach.  
"Me neither"  
Tony whipped out his phone, his fingers flying over the screen. There was a short pause, and then Happy's face appeared. "What's up Boss?"  
"Can you bring the jet? Urgently?"  
"Sure, I'll only be able to land on the rooftop, though"  
"Doesn't matter, just be quick with it"  
"Sure, Boss" Happy hung up. Steve walked over to the stairs of the hall.  
"Why the jet?" He asked, The Avengers followed him, and stopped at the door.  
Tony smiled, and his armour flickered and disappeared as he walked inside.  
"To see Fury"

**Chapter Three-** A White-Hot Helping Hand

Tony rushed past multiple S.H.I.E.L.D members as he headed for the meeting room, Steve kept up easily.  
"So, do you really think he will know?"  
"99.9 percent sure" Tony said "If what Clint says he heard is fact"  
Natasha walked behind them.  
"Do we have any idea where Banner might have gone? If he left of his own choice?" Natasha said, and Tony looked briefly over his shoulder.  
" India...Russia, China...Anywhere he would be hard to find" he said, Natasha sighed.  
"That doesn't make it much easier, does it?"  
"Wait...Didn't S.H.I.E.L.D keep tabs on Doctor Banner before the Chitauri?" Steve interjected, and Natasha nodded.  
"But S.H.I.E.L.D took them off after it, give him some time on his own" Clint said, having caught up. "Took me ages to get clearance to put the jet in the hangar" He explained.

They all bustled into the meeting room, on an unsuspecting Nick Fury, he looked up from a small pile of papers, and his hand slid over them as they all took seats.  
"Where is Doctor Banner?" Steve asked, getting to the point immediately, Nick's hand fluttered over the papers, Tony reached over and pulled them out from under him. Fury sent Tony a warning look, but Tony read them anyway. Eyes scanning the paper quickly, he put it down, a shocked look plastered on his face. Steve looked over Tony's shoulder, and it wasn't long before he wrenched the papers out of Tony's hand and gave it to Natasha

"You did it" Tony said incredulously, "You perfected the cure" Fury shook his head.  
"No, we advanced on it, we still don't know if it works, and now it has gone missing"  
"How did R&D do it?"  
"Not Research and Development, a special agent did it" Fury explained "She had been working on it for quite some time, the first serum was...volatile" He pressed a button on the table and a large horizontal screen slid down, "This is the footage of the first serum"

The screen flashed, and a young woman with light blonde hair appeared at a bench, she smiled at the camera, the light flashed off her straight, white teeth. "This is Doctor Rebekah" Fury said, pausing the footage.  
"Rebekah?" Clint quieried, "That's the one with..."  
"No known last name, yes" Fury said, slightly annoyed at the interruption "She has been working with S.H.I.E.L.D for quite some time"  
"She was here when Clint became an agent" Natasha said "And when I came as well"  
"She has been working with S.H.I.E.L.D for a very long time..."  
Steve froze, she didn't look that old, at all. "How old is she?"  
Fury smiled "She's one hundred and twenty-two"  
"I didn't think we lived that long, or did that change too?" Steve said, confused, Fury shook his head.  
"No, we don't," The video unfroze and continued, he paused it to a shot where the woman's arm is outsretched, reaching for a bottle of undiluted phosphate. "Dr. Rebekah isn't exactly human-" Fury stopped speaking as the doors slid open and a raven flew in, landing on the edge of the table, Natasha raised a perfect eyebrow.  
"I thought security was tight here, Fury" Tony said snarkily. Nick glared at him.  
"Agent Rebekah, no animals on the carrier" Fury said slowly, speaking to apparently no-one. The bird hopped down onto the metal floor with a short but sweet note, it looked up at Fury with bright emerald eyes, and a gaze that was too steady.

There was a flash of blinding white light that seemed to emit from the small raven, and when it cleared, and The Avengers could see again, a young woman stood in its place.

She was rubbing her left arm and scowling. Steve's eyes widened as he noticed that a series of curling tattoos, all conjoined, worked their way down her arm, curling around her fingers. They seemed to be embossed into her pale skin, the a bright green colour was receding from it, heading upwards. She sighed when the colour had disappeared, and pushed a long, curly lock of blonde hair so light it seemed to be a white colour behind her ear, smiling at them all with perfectly straight teeth. It seemed as if the colour from the markings on her arm had retreated to her eyes, for they were the very same bright jade, and the colour seemed to swirl within them. Her gaze travelled around the room and she blushed, the pink highlighting the bunches of freckles on either of her high-set cheeks.

She started to open her mouth, then she closed it with a snap, turned to Fury, and her hands began moving wildly, yet in some kind of coordinated order Steve couldn't place. Fury sighed, and pressed the same button. The screen blacked out and retreated into the panels in the walls again.

"Speech form, please" Fury said simply, and Rebekah grimaced. There was a much shorter burst of white light, and when it dissipated, Rebekah was still there, but with an exception.

The ornate markings down her left arm were now flowing with the same emerald colour as her eyes, and this time it didn't recede. She rolled her wrists and turned away from Fury.

"Sorry" She said, her voice clear and smooth, it rang through the cavernous room like church bells.  
"Woah, hang on...What just happened?" Clint asked, holding up a hand, Fury and Rebekah smiled.  
"I'm Agent Rebekah, AKA Morph" Rebekah said . "Fury's right, I'm not human...I'm actually a genetic anomaly, nowadays you would call them mutants, they had a name for people like me in my time too...Freak." Tony nudged Steve, who glared at him. "I am the agent in charge of project H" Rebekah continued, her tone brightened considerably.  
"Project H?" Tony interjected, not looking at Rebekah, but at the place where the Raven had been. What on earth is Project H? And how is it gonna help us find the Big Guy? Is this even relevant?  
"Project Hulk; finding a cure, or at least, a sedative serum" Fury said, and Tony nodded, still looking confused. "Apart from Banner, Agent Rebekah is the world's leading mind in Gamma radiation, that's why she is head of that department" Fury continued, Rebekah smiled and bowed her head modestly, her plaitnum ringlets swining free. Natasha nudged Clint, who was staring out the window absentmindedly. "Can she do field work?" Clint asked, rubbing the spot where Natasha had elbowed him. Rebekah looked at her boots.

"I'm not a field agent at all" she said simply "I cannot follow orders, so I work in Research and Development" She looked at Fury reminescently, Fury shook his head, smiling slightly.  
"You are now" He replied, and her eyes widened.  
"Why Sir?"  
"Doctor Banner is missing" Steve said, and she looked at him, her jade eyes concerned.  
"And we need your help to find him" Tony interjected. We're gonna find you, Big Guy.


	4. R Is For Reluctant

**Disclaimer**: I do not own The Avengers. The Avengers are owned by Marvel. Rebekah was created and is owned by me, however.

**Chapter Four**-R is for Reluctant.

"Agent Harris, come to MR1" Fury said through his earpiece, Tony looked up to see a middle aged woman walk in.  
"You wanted to see me?" she asked, Fury nodded.  
"You have been temporarily promoted to head of project H, for the remainder of Rebekah's mission, understood?" The woman nodded, "That is all" She walked out the door, her stride much different than the one she had earlier.

"Agent Morph," Fury said, and Rebekah turned to face him again.  
"Yes, Director Fury?"  
"I need you to locate the tracker code for sample 18, that's the serum that's gone missing"  
"Yes, Director Fu-" She began, before freezing "Wait...Missing? Sir?" She looked around, eyes wide. Steve nodded.  
"Why does a serum have a tracker code?" Clint asked, and Rebekah answered immediately.  
"Not all of the serums have tracker codes, just the more important ones" Clint looked up thoughtfully. "Every single serum developed by me for Project H has a tracker inserted intooeach of their contents, just to be thorough"  
"Could they have found it, and taken it out?" Steve asked, Rebekah closed her eyes and shook her head, her curls bouncing wildly  
"Microscopic trackers, if they have used the serum, it will lead us straight to Dr. Banner. If they haven't used it yet, we will find his general location...Unless..." Rebekah trailed off, biting her bottom lip.  
"Unless?" Natasha repeated.  
"Unless the serum is in a different location to Banner completely" Rebekah finished slowly. She put one hand to her head, the other palm down on the table. "Oh, for pity's sake" She muttered.  
"Excuse me, will you?" she said hurriedly, her voice low, and rushed out of the room. The door slid closed with a click.  
"Well then..." Tony said. Steve got to his feet and walked out the door.

He followed her incredibly light footsteps, walking slowly, listening for her voice, if she decided to speak to anyone. When they disappeared completely, he turned the corner and saw a small shadow enter a door. He looked at the label on the door, it was silver, and a small inscription was engraved on it.

Dr. R-Agent Morph.

He knocked on the steel door, there was a stretch of silence and a meek "Who is it?"  
"Steve Rogers"  
"Oh, come in" The door slid open, and Steve saw Rebekah on her bed, sitting on the edge, her head in her hands. A pile of papers slid off her lap and onto the floor, scatteringthemselves along the pale grey carpet  
"What's wrong?" Steve asked softly. Rebekah shook her head.  
"I don't think I can do it" She muttered into her hands. He took a few steps forward, leaning down in front of her, avoiding the mass of paper.  
"Why?"  
"There are so many things I could get wrong...I work in laboratories...not-" Steve reached forward and gently grasped her wrists, pulling them apart. He stared into her pale face, and she looked down ashamedly. "I'm not meant to work in the field...I can't" Steve shook his head at the tiny woman.  
"It doesn't matter, I'm sure you can try"  
"But it does! It does matter!" She exclaimed, her voice getting quieter and quieter until it was breaking. "I don't think I could live with myself if-if I did something that hurt one of you..."  
"Hey! We won't let that happen..." He said, and she looked up, tears running sparkling trails down her face. "Got it?" she sniffed, wiping her eyes and nodding. Then she smiled apologetically.  
"Sorry, I'm being silly, crying over petty little things" Steve smiled.  
"It's okay...Come on, lets go" Rebekah got to her feet, Steve knelt down to pick up her papers. She brushed herself off as Steve waited politely before handing them to her. She looked up at him bashfully, her long eyelashes fluttered for a moment. Even though she was still, her long blonde ringlets seemed to bounce anyway.

With a move so swift Steve barely saw it, Rebekah threw herself at Steve, who froze, taken aback as she hugged him. He smiled at the wall behind her as she wrapped her arms around his midesction, she only came three-quarters of the way up his chest.  
"Thank you," she said into his chest, her voice muffled. After a while, she seemed to realise what she had done and let Steve go, looking awkward.  
"Sorry" She mumbled, Steve laughed lightly.  
"Stop apologising...It's okay..."  
Rebekah looked at her boots, before casting a glance at her laptop in the corner. She walked over lithely to retrieve it, and they headed out the door.

"Welcome back Morph..." Natasha said as Rebekah and Steve walked through the door. Fury seemed to have disappeared.  
"Found out anything?" Clint asked, and Rebekah snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye at Steve, he shrugged and headed over to his seat. Rebekah shifted her weight from foot to foot.  
Think, come on. Think, girl!  
"I think that if we go on whatever information we have, we may be able to find him" Real smooth, like they weren't already thinking of doing that. Tony looked at his hands, clasped in front of him on the table. Rebekah lifted her laptop up, before turning it on and swiping the screen outwards.

The nearby screens filled with pictures of multiple syringes, bottles and a few videos started playing. One of the screens displayed Rebekah pouring some blue liquid into a beaker of white, it started smoking, before exploding with a small pop, the Rebekah on tape let out a shriek, and brought up her arms to protect her face, effectively knocking her safety glasses off and sending them flying into a nearby wall as glass peppered her arm.  
"These are my private files, I only show Fury what I have to" she said. Another showed Rebekah in a bright white lab coat, smiling brightly as a boy-he looked her age-wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "That's my brother," Rebekah said, following Steve's gaze. She looked forlorn "He used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D, too"  
"Stop!" Cried Clint, "Screen 3, video. Bring it up and play it through"  
Rebekah placed her fingertips on a nearby screen and spread her hand out. All of the screens were filled with the same paused security footage. She tapped the screen once, and the video started.  
The Rebekah on tape was talking to a middle-aged man in army uniform, by the sounds of it, they were quietly arguing. The Rebekah in the video was vehemently shaking her head as the man gestured quite violently. His expression changed, looking furious. She merely crossed her arms and kept shaking her head. There was no audio, but it wasn't necessary. It was easy to tell what was going on.  
"That's the guy Fury was talking to last week!" Clint exclaimed. And Rebekah raised her eyebrows.  
"That's General Ross" Rebekah said simply.  
"Ross was the one tailing-"Clint said, and he froze. Tony finished his sentence for him.  
"The one tailing Bruce!"  
"I used to work with him, I was with S.H.I.E.L.D, but the Army worked beside us...When he started asking me for the test serums, I refused...and he got a bit edgy..." Rebekah furrowed her brow. "I'm still not sure if it works...and he may just have taken my only one!" She swiped the video to the side and brought up a map. Her fingers flew over the screen as she typed in a sequence of numbers and letters.

A small image of a bottle appeared in the corner as the system began searching for the code, a red line began tracing over the countries, the coordinates changing rapidly. She stared at the screen, one finger on her lip as Clint got to his feet and walked over to a nearby screen.

"So what are we going to do when we find the serum?" Tony asked, and Rebekah put one hand to her left temple.  
"We still don't know whether Dr. Banner will be anywhere near the serum. We still don't know where he actually is. We still don't know whether Ross took the serum. We don't actually know who took him, if some one did. And we have no way of finding out if Ross is actually linked to this!" She said, and Natasha turned to her, eyebrows raised.  
"Is there anyway of finding out where Banner is?" Natasha said, as Rebekah dragged out a chair and sat down, head in her hands.  
"We could use the same Gamma tracker that was used during the Chitauri invasion!" Tony said, and Rebekah clicked her fingers.  
"That's it!" She said, and got to her feet again, racing over. "Wait...He emits small amounts of Gamma radiation, doesn't he?" Tony nodded, and leaned back in his chair looking smug. "Okay, shouldn't be too hard," She mumbled to herself, entering anoter code. This one incredibly long, taking her multiple tries to get it right. She entered what Steve thought to be at least twenty codes before a green line joined the red line, racing across the screen in some parody of a game of tag.

"Now what?" Tony asked.  
"Now we wait" She smiled. "This may take a while"


	5. Feeling Lonely?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Avengers. The Avengers are owned by Marvel. Rebekah was created and is owned by me, however.

**Chapter 5**- Feeling Lonely?

Bruce stared helplessly down at his arm, peppered with medical tape and cotton buds. A middle-aged woman who called herself Beverly held up a syringe. Bruce's tired eyes widened. Was there any more blood to take? His left arm already lay limp at his side, not responding to any messages of movement. The veins collapsed and useless, after only 16 hours. He nodded as Gerald offered him a glass of water. Taking it, he drank it slowly. He winced as what felt like the thousandth needle pierced his skin, and the increasingly familiar sensation as the blood was drained from his arm.

"Gerald" Bruce said, his voice weak, after the woman had left, holding the syringe away from herself. Gerald looked up, his colour had paled, and he was looking sickly. Bruce noticed, and furrowed his brow. "Are you okay?" Gerald sighed, how many times had the man asked him that very same question? But he was feeling rather off-colour. Gerald nodded, fighting off the vertigo as he did so.  
"I'm fine"  
"You don't look fine" Gerald raised an eyebrow, and looked Bruce over. Bruce was looking frail, his skin an unhealthy colour, almost transparent. His eyes were searching the room frantically, some odd colour between green and brown, but not quite hazel. Gerald sighed. He was safe as long as that vial that General Ross had brought worked, at least, that's what General Ross had said to him. But to the facility, Gerald was disposable, and he knew that.  
"Neither do you" He said, Bruce smirked.  
"Well, being captured and then having all the blood taken from your body will do that to a person." Gerald's polite smile flickered, and he looked down at his hands. "It's not your fault" Bruce reassured the boy.

"I didn't know what they were going to do with you, just that I was assigned to look after you,'the bare necessities' was what I was told" Gerald said, and Bruce nodded.  
"Understandable" Bruce said. "I have a suspicion that T.I.D.E wants my blood for something, and if I am right, it won't be good" Gerald's eyes widened as the lights in the hall flickered and switched off.  
"It's after hours...I was told to stay in here and watch you overnight" Gerald said, sitting on the floor beside Bruce's chair. Bruce looked down at him. "What do you think we want your blood for?" Bruce looked at his knees, and shook his head.  
"To make more of me" He said simply.  
"To make more of you?" Gerald repeated, confused. "Why make more of a man?"  
Bruce inhaled, this boy didn't know...He was set to look after him, and he didn't know? He didn't know what Bruce was, or what he was dealing with? This was bad.  
"Do you know who I am?" Gerald shook his head.  
"I don't even know your name"  
"I'm Bruce Banner"  
Gerald's golden eyes widened. He sucked in a breath, and Bruce saw an emotion all too familiar flicker across the young boy's face: Fear.  
"Are you serious?"  
"Yes..."

Gerald's complexion paled, he was now a white-violet colour. "Damn" He breathed, and Bruce shuffled forward on his chair, ignoring the aches that shot through his body.  
"Why do you work for T.I.D.E?"  
Gerald poked a small red patch on his forearm, looking up at Bruce, he frowned.  
"I'm a test subject" He said oddly.  
"A test subject?" Gerald nodded, and pulled out a strand of his hair. Placing it in the palm of his hand, it turned scarlet.

"They have done all sorts of odd things to me" Gerald's tone indicated that he did not want to press on further with the subject.  
"Do you have any idea what you will be doing for the next few days?" Bruce asked, and Gerald looked at the slip of paper on the door. He pointed at it.  
"That's my week's schedule"  
"Would you mind bringing it over?" Gerald got to his feet, swaying slightly, and pulled it off the wall, handing it to Bruce.

Bruce scanned the paper, trying to see past the haze, he needed his glasses. He squinted and the Tuesday column swam into focus, he read the very bottom cell.

11:00pm-4:30am  
Obs Room 23  
Care  
Note: Vo.

He moved on to the middle of Wednesday, skipping a small cell, that only went for an hour, entitled Sleep. The next column read:

6:30am-2:50pm  
Test Room 12  
Testing  
Note: BS-H20

"You have testing tomorrow," remarked Bruce, and Gerald nodded.  
"Twice a week" Gerald replied, shuddering slightly. This was not missed by Bruce, who frowned. "All I was told was that it would bve different to my other tests"  
Bruce stared lankly down at Gerald's timetable. It was almost as if a light had switched on in his head. "How many test subjects are there here?"  
Gerald shrugged "Twenty-two, why?"  
"And how many of them are being tested with you?"  
Gerald pointed to the note at the bottom of the testing cell, "BS-H20" He read, "Twenty of us, it will be with doctor Beverly Stern-that's what the BS is for-But this letter here-" Gerald pointed to the H "-we don't find out what that is until testing" Bruce's eyes widened, and he started flinching spastically.  
"How many people are here?" Gerald's brow furrowed, confused.  
"What do you mean?"  
"How many people have been brought here, like me?"  
"About three, one is in Ward 7...They say she is really unwell. The others are in Ward 2..." He trailed off  
"Ward 2?"  
"Death Ward" Gerald said, his voice laced with despair..."I spent most of my time in Ward 2 after undergoing a test about a month ago...it resulted in this-" Gerald gestured to himself as his violet complexion paled, slowly beginning to turn transparent, until there was nothing standing before Bruce, but a voice continued from the space Gerald had been. "They turned me invisible, and I came back in sections...They thought I was going to die...And truthfully, so did I" Gerald flickered back into sight.  
"Have you already been tested with those people?" Bruce said hurriedly.  
Gerald hung his head "The ones that they could test off, yes"  
"Then it's me" Bruce said, horrified.  
"What?"

"They're testing you with my blood tomorrow!" Bruce exclaimed, his voice echoing aroound the near empty room. "That's what the H is...Hulk!" Gerald's golden eyes widened, and he started violently shaking.  
"No...No, no..." Gerald said, his voice shaking just as much as his arms, which he wrapped around himself, he disappeared. Bruce reached out, pausing until Gerald came back into view. "What will happen?"  
"What happened to me..." Bruce said, his eyes downcast as he tugged at the hose, the silver liquid still moving sluggishly.  
"I...It..." Gerald trailed off, muted by his own terror, his mouth moved, framing the words his brain had forbidden him to utter.  
"Gerald," Bruce said, Gerlad looked up "We need to get out of here, fast"


	6. Waiting Takes Too Long

**A/N: **I love this chapter...'Nuff said. Cookies to **AcaciaDawn, LittleMissPirateQueen, **And my bestest buddy long time, **IvyKnight.**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Avengers. The Avengers are owned by Marvel. Rebekah was created and is owned by me, however.

**Chapter Six-**Waiting Takes Too Long

"How long will this take?" Tony asked, looking out the window. Rebekah trailed her fingers over the glass top of the table.  
"It is searching for two items, Mr Stark." She reminded him. "It may take some time"  
"Well, while we wait, tells about you...considering we weren't handed a file about you" Natasha said.  
"You were always a hush hush topic on the carrier" Clint added, and Rebekah sighed.  
"I was born in London, in 1891" She began "I spent 20 years there, before I actually realised that something was wrong" The room was silent, apart from the steady beeping of the monitor. "When I was 19, I was looking at the photo that was taken a year previously, I was putting it in my bag. I looked exactly the same as I had when I was 18." She stopped here, her brow furrowed, "It didn't worry me at first, but by the time I was 20, I looked at that photo again...Nothing had changed, I was exactly the same, it was starting to get strange, people were beginnning to notice,  
"I started to think about what would happen if I stayed; I would be accused of being a witch or something even more bizarre. So, I left, travelling around until I decided to board a trade ship, it took me to India. It was new, but I got used to it, well for 22 years...By then, I still had't aged a bit...I should have looked like the average 43 year old, but I didn't... I was really worried then" Her eyes were closed, and her features contorted as she remembered.  
"I then moved to America, I had been moving around the states for the next 75 years...When I was in California...I had gotten to the age of 93, but I still looked the same. I had expected to die in California...But I didn't and I passed the 100 year milestone...By the time I was 114, S.H.I.E.L.D found me living in Manhattan, and brought me here," The room was still, and Rebekah looked around before exhaling heavily.  
"And I have been here since," She said, her tone closing. She gestured around the room, arms wide.

"Mhmm" Said Tony, who was still looking at the tracker lines as they played tag accross the screen. "And what can you do?" He asked, before turning around and coming face to face with another Tony Stark, this one wearing a black, longsleeved shirt. So that's what she can do. Impressive. He thought.  
"Wha-Hey I do look good today" Natasha rolled her eyes "Why the long-sleeved shirt?" He asked, raising the arm connected to him. He was wearing a tuxedo.  
"Oh, don't worry. I can wear anything I desire" Rebekah said, Steve reeled back when hge realised that she was talking in Tony's voice. The longsleeved shirt and dark black pants flickered, and a pink tutu and leotard popped up in it's place. A ballet outfit, complete with toe-shoes. The copy of Tony looked ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous.

Natasha smiled, not letting too much of her amusement show while Steve dropped his head and snickered. Clint, on the other hand, burst out laughing, holding his stomach with one arm and banging his fist down on the table with the other. The real Tony shot him a dirty look before turning to Rebekah.  
"What about my armour?" He asked, and Rebekah smiled, it was a 'Rebekah-smile', contorting the features of 'Tony's' face until it looked droll. "Hey, don't smile like that again, you're ruining my image" Tony said. 'Tony' reached into the back pocket of his jeans and uncovered a small, half-transparent box, about the size of an average mouse. He reached out and placed it on the table. 'Tony's' normal clothes flickered back.  
"Don't touch that" 'Tony' said, reaching over and rolling up the left sleeve of his shirt, revealing the series of markings, flowing a jade colour. He reached out with his left hand, and gently tapped the smooth surface of the box with his index finger.  
A sort of green substance that was neither gas nor fluid flowed into the inside of the box, eradicating the smoky white colour it withheld. The box was now transparent, but the edges and points of the box glowed a inconspicuous green. The green substance floated around the inside of the box in wisps.

"What's it doing?" Clint asked, leaning forward intently.  
"Activating" 'Tony' said simply, picking it up an rolling it in her hand. As if on some cue, the box began unfolding at the sides, multiplying until the panels began flexing and warping, hugging to the contours of 'Tony's' body, before hardening with a 'chink' sound. The red colour began spreading through, tainted gold also. Before long, 'Tony' stood before Tony in the Iron Man armour. The real Tony nodded appreciatively.

With a sucking noise, the armour began unravelling, until 'Tony' stood with the box in his hand. With the increasingly familiar white light, Rebekah stood before them once more, stowing the box away.

"Erm, ta da!" She said, holding out her hands. And Clint shook his head.  
"You're a mutant, who is old enough to be Capsicle here's Mother-" He said, and Rebekah nodded, looking a little abashed.  
"-And you can make a box light up and do whatever you want with it?" He continued, Rebekah pulled the box back out and slid it across the table, clint caught it with an open hand. He tossed it from his left hand to his right. It didn't feel weighty, it probably wieghed as much as a television remote, maybe even less. Clint placed it down on the table, tapping the top with his finger, he tensed his body, closing his eyes.  
Nothing happened.

"Only I can activate it" Rebekah replied as Clint tossed it into the air towards her, she caught it in her waiting hands. She smiled, placing it on the table. Her gold curls bounced as she made her way towards Natasha.  
"Would you assist me? There are two more things I would like to show all of you"  
"Uh, yes...But why?" Natasha replied, getting deftly to her feet.  
"It takes two" she said, smiling.  
Natasha followed Rebekah to the front of the table. Rebekah held out her right arm.  
"I need us to touch, just for a minute, keep away from my left arm and hand, though." Rebekah warned, Natasha tentiatively reached out, grasping Rebekah's right forearm.  
What is she up to now? Thought Steve. He was beginning to wonder how Bruce was holding up.

For Tony, that was the only thing on his mind. Why are we watching a grandma turn into animals and people when Bruce is out there somewhere, in trouble?! Tony's eye darted to Rebekah and Natasha, to the tracking map and then back again.

"This may hurt" Rebekah added, and the expression on Natasha's face hardened. When the bright white fash had cleared, and everyone's eyes could focus again, Rebekah had taken the form of a small black cat, with one emerald paw, beside her, touching the silky soft fur on her back, was a small, redheaded child, quite beautiful for her age. She was scowling and frequent shudders ran through her tiny frame.  
"Ow," Squeaked little Natasha. "You weren't wrong, that did really hurt"  
The cat opened it's mouth and replied "Would have hurt more if you'd of touched my left arm" It's voice was a smooth, silken rumble, like a purr.  
Clint fell off his chair.  
"We get to keep our speech capabilities" explained Rebekah. "But this power has a major weakness. Let me go Natasha" Clint ignored Steve and Tony laughing at him as he heaved himself into the chair.  
Natasha obliged, removing her tiny porcelian hand from the talking cat's back.  
With a high-pitched moan, Natasha's features began distorting, looking quite grotesque as her limbs began to stretch and grow rapidly, her hair shortened and started to go a darker red. With one last "Ouch!" Natasha stood before them, beside the black cat. Rebekah changed back to her speech form and continued.  
"You let go, you regrow" Natasha rubbed her arms.  
"How do you put up with that?"  
"Hm?"  
"It freaking hurts, my pain threshold is pretty damn high, but did that hurt or what?"  
Rebekah hung her head, smiling slightly. "You think just changing hurts" She shook her head, then looked around the table.  
"Who here wants to do a daring feat for me, you are going to get hurt, I guarantee" Tony pushed his chair back as far as it would go and vehemently shook his head. Steve put up his hands in a gesture that Rebekah took to mean 'I'm out, someone else can do it'. Quite unike his usual self. Clint on the other hand, stood and approached Rebekah as a grumbling Natasha passed him, beelining for her chair. He offered his hand, and she stretched out her left arm.  
"See these colours?" She ran her finger down the emerald patterns embedded into her arm. "In my normal form, it doesn't do this-" she gestured to the flow of the colour "It goes back to my eyes, enhancing my vision" She dropped her arm "But in my normal form, I am incapable of speech, a mute."  
Steve looked kindly at her, and she blushed a little.  
"Ready?" she asked, and he nodded "Touch my left fingers"

He did, and realised that her fingers were hot, not hot enough to burn, but hot all he same.  
"Dodge the funny patterns, trace up my arm" He did exactly that, it was getting progressively hotter, until it was tip-toeing usual temperature for boiling water. Gritting his teeth, and ignoring the frequent pangs of pain coursing through his hand, he held steady.  
"Hot, isn't it?" She replied. "Are you ready, this will really hurt" Clint looked frightened, but tightened his grip. Inside the flash of light that followed, Clint could see the rest of the group, but it was clear they couldn't see him. The temperature of Rebekah's arm was skyrocketing, Clint yelled out as the skin on his hand began scorching.  
Immediately the white mist dissappated, Clint was holding his hand out, tears of pain streaming down his face.  
"Sorry" Rebekah said, her voice hard. "I feel it the same way you do, so don't feel too bad" Her face twitched, and her hands started violently shaking, the tremors rolled up her arms and down her legs. Steve and Tony jumped out of there chairs as Rebekah's legs gave out, and she dropped heavily to the floor. Steve lifted her into his arms, and checked her pulse with his finger.

"She's unconscious, we'd better get to the in-" Steve began, but was overriden by the loud, attention-grabbing beeping noise morphing into a shrill, demanding siren-like noise. Everyone's eyes were directed to the source. And Tony felt a part of him jump up and down, despite the situation.

The tracker had found Bruce.


	7. Testing and The Verdict

**A/N: **Another chapter for you! Hope you like it!  
**Disclaimer: **Avengers is owned by Marvel, I own Rebekah, however.

**Chapter Seven**- Testing and the Verdict.

"Gerald, is there anyway you can get out of the testing, anyway at all?" Bruce said frantically as Gerald paced the room, running his fingers through his hair. Apparently, like Bruce, stress didn't go down to well with him, he was flickering in and out of sight mumbling to himself, running his hand along the white walls.  
"I don't think so" Gerald replied, and when he turned, Bruce's heart sank.

His eyes were tortured and pained looking, and his face was drawn with worry. As Bruce watched, tears formed in the young boy's ochre eyes, and his knees wobbled. Gerald walked towards Bruce, and the tears passed some unseen barrier and started to flow haphazardly down his cheeks. "What am I going to do?" He whispered and Bruce looked around the room, devastated when the boy sank to his knees at Bruce's feet.  
"I don't know" Gerald glanced up at the clock on the wall.

"6:25, Five more mintues" Gerald announced, his voice shaking as madly as his hands. "Bruce," Gerald continued, and Bruce glanced down at the shuddering boy. "I'm scared"  
Bruce sighed. "Me too, scared for you, and what might happen if this goes through"  
"What might happen, other than the obvious?" Gerald asked, clearly looking like he didn't want to hear the answer.  
"I, I can't tell you exactly, sometimes Gamma radiation will affect people in different ways." There was a long stretch of silence, and the boy's nerves and worries seemed to triple by the second.

"I don't want to have to go" Gerald said finally, his voice low, cutting out in the middle. The sound of footsteps echoed in the hall outside the door, which opened with a slight creak.  
"Gerald, you are late for testing" A man said sternly, Gerald hung his head, getting to his feet and following the man out the door, just as the man turned the corner Gerald turned to face Bruce one last time, and Bruce swore he heard the boy mouth 'help me'. But that was impossible, Gerald knew there was nothing Bruce could do, didn't he?

Bruce inhaled deeply, feeling sluggish and sickly as he lifted his hand, 20 hours, and they were already testing, quick workers. This is bad, this is really really bad. He sat there, fiddling with the tubing on the back of his hand, and the door swung open, a small girl with a mess of blonde hair stumbled in. She looked up, staring straight at him with eyes as black as a starless night. A dark shadow seemed to cross her face and her stare became a hard glare. Bruce rocked back a little on his chair as her eyes flashed, and her body warped and distorted, substantiating until her image was a fine mist. When she spoke, her voice was not the type Bruce had been expecting. High and clear, her voice was something one would pair with bubblegum, bells and the colour pink.

"Is your name Bruce Banner?" Bruce nodded, and she held out her hand.  
"Uleyna Coulson"

Testing Room.

"Okay, Subjects. Into your seats" A loud, stern male voice commanded, and Gerald gulped as he climbed into a chair not unlike one one would see at the dentist's, beside a pale woman with blue hair. Small metal clamps came out and locked themselves over Gerald's wrists and ankles. The woman reached over and unbuttoned Gerald's shirt, exposing a pale lavender flat stomach. Another clamp snaked itself over his chest, holding him flush to the cold chair. The loud snap noises made by the locks seemed to symbolise doom for Gerald, the only one who knew what trouble loomed ahead for this group of three. There was a man who looked about fifty, fear etched into the aged, harsh lines across his face. And Francine, a tiny girl of about five, whom Gerald knew personally, tears streamed down her petite face, this was the first testing phase she had been through.

"You have been chosen for testing on one of the most important things T.I.D.E will ever do," The voice continued. And eyes searched the ceiling for the speakers. "This is why you are here, this has been T.I.D.E's main goal. We will be testing the Hulk's blood on you, and seeing if it has any effect." A tortured moan broke through the air, mingling with a series of high whimpers. The man and Francine , who must had heard of the Hulk were shaking, staring at the unqualified 'nurses' beside them, who were in turn staring at the tinted window with utterly shocked expressions plastered over their faces, evidently, no-one was told of the details.

There was a crackle of static over the speakers, and a door to the left was electronically bolted shut.  
"Nurses, please." The voice said. The woman, and the other two nurses reached for a vial and needle. Once set up, they placed it back on the table. The woman ran her hand over Gerald's left arm, turning it so that the crook of his elbow was facing upwards, her fingers probed his shaking limb for a main vein. When found, she held her finger fast, waiting. She reached over and picked up the needle, she paused, watching the tinted glass. Gerald clamped his jaw tightly.  
"Begin" The voice said. And there was an outbreak of gasps, Gerald among them as he felt the needle drive deep into his arm. He let out a groan of pain as the woman fled, running through some unseen door behind his chair. The man yelled out, twisting in his chair, screaming a prayer and begging for mercy. His body carried him upwards, one, two, three times. The fourth time, the man fell back with a dull, limp finality. Dead. Would that happen to him?  
He was shaking now, cold sweat pouring from every pore as his heart-rate began accelerating rapidly. Beating a fast rhythm in his heaving chest as his respiration soared, his body began aching, muscles burning as if a fire had begun in his veins. To his right, little Francie screamed loudly, a sound that seemed to tear apart of Gerald's heart away from the whole as she let out another short cry of absolute agony, then fell silent. He looked down at his violet complexion as it paled, then began shifting to a light green at his shuddering fingertips. Fear gave way to an alien emotion Gerald couldn't place as his vision began blurring, his fluttering heartbeat echoed in his ears as he became unaware of his surrounds. A green mist was enveloping his sight as the aching of his muscles got increasingly worse and his skin began to burn, as though it was being stretched. He let out a loud noise, somewhere between a scream and a groan in a voice that was only half his own. His head was swimming, groggy but in extreme pain, his body lurched upwards as his control was seized by something else, the shackles snapped away, hitting the ground with a series of heavy bangs. Large, menacing shadows danced in his sight, or what was left of it. The pain reached a peak as Gerald screamed in agony, his body twisting and writhing madly until, with a powerful surge, he fell off the chair, limbs still shaking, still burning.

Before the green mist completely blocked his sight and the world floated beyond his reach, the man over the radio said one last thing.  
"Thank-You, from all of us at T.I.D.E Laboratories, and General Thaddeus Ross"  
Then everything was gone.

Observation Room 23

"Er...Coulson...Do you...Do you know anyone called Phil Coulson?" Bruce asked, staring at the wispy woman as she solidified, her dark eyes watching him intently as she touched down on her toes delicately.  
"Yes, why?" She asked, biting her full lips. Bruce looked at his bound ankles.  
"How are you related?"  
"I'm his step-sister"  
"Were you - uh,- informed of the events"  
Uleyna eyed him suspiciously. "What events?" A loud voice, praying for mercy, echoed down the hall. Bruce inhaled, it must have started.  
Bruce looked at her, then sighed, wringing his hands.  
"Did you know that Coulson is dead?" A high-pitched scream that seemed to go on forever floated up from downstairs. Bruce shuddered for a bit then froze.  
"Wait, dead?!" She inhaled, and her hands turned to smoke. "How? He can't be, he was-"  
A half-scream, half-yell mingled with a myraid of loud noises rose from two floors below, and Bruce's head snapped up.  
He cussed loudly. "Gerald!" He cried. Uleyna jumped at the sudden loud noise.  
"What?!" Uleyna asked, watching Bruce closely.  
"That noise, that was...Gerald" Uleyna sighed.  
"I know..." Uleyna said, and Bruce bent down and started tugging at the ropes that bound his ankles. Uleyna made a loud hissing noise at him, grabbing his wrist and holding tightly.  
"I can't allow you to do that." Bruce looked up at her pleadingly, and she shook her head vehemently. "I can't let you out, I'm so sorry"  
"Please...I need to-" Another scream, louder this time, laced with a sort of pain Bruce knew all too well. "GERALD!" Bruce yelled. Now tugging at the ropes, swinging his legs forward.

Uleyna, busy holding his wrists, couldn't stop him from doing that as his chair began to move.  
"Stop!" She cried, "Do you want to end up pulling out the sedative?" She clapped a hand over her mouth as Bruce raised an eyebrow, rubbing his released wrists.  
"Sedative?" He tugged at the tube. "I wondered why I couldn't change, how'd T.I.D.E do it?"  
The room shook as a roar echoed from downstairs, combined with an almighty crash. Bruce's eyes were now flickering towards the door.  
"Not T.I.D.E, S.H.I.E.L.D, I was sent in on a recovery mission to retrieve it."  
"So it works?"  
"Unless you take it out, we don't know what happens then"  
Bruce eyed her with a sort of suspicion. There was a long stretch of silence, in which Bruce struggled against the bindings around his ankles and Uleyna paced the room. The silence was only broken by the loud crashes and bangs, mingled with roars that only made Bruce work faster.

S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier  
"What do we do?" Natasha asked, as Steve heaved Rebekah's limp body into his arms. "Do we go after Bruce without her?"  
"I think we might have to, it's too risky. If she is unwell, it could jeopardise the mission." Steve said, and Tony looked blankly at one of Rebekah's pale white hands.  
"Yeah, we don't exactly wanna have a body to carry 'round if we are fighting, do we?" Clint asked rhetorically.  
"I think we should just dump her in the infirmary, grab our jet and go." Tony said coldly, and Steve sent him a look that would have made any less egotistical man wither.  
"No, we stay to check if she's alright" Steve said adamantly.  
"Steve," Natasha began "We don't exactly have time to stay and check, Dr. Banner could be in danger" Steve made to retort, but Tony cut him off.  
"Come on, quit bantering like little old ladies, we leave her in the infirmary and go!"  
"No," A weak voice said, and the team looked down at Rebekah, her eyes just open, her complexion sickly pale. "You will need me"  
"I don't think you are really well enough to-"  
"Who else is going to know what to do with an angry Banner?"  
"Well, that may be the case but I'm sure-"  
"Steve, shut up for a minute. I know you're worried, but I'm okay"  
"What happened to you?" Clint asked, Natasha had disappeared from the room.  
"Overtired, exhaustion, that kind of thing, my body regenerates in time" Rebekah said "Put me down please" Steve did.

Rebekah's stance was wide, her shaking legs fought against her will to stand. She walked, swaying slightly, to the R&D lab closely followed by a watchful Steve Rogers. Tony and Clint were headed to the jet. Rebekah waddled over to a fridge and extracted a small, delicate vial of a silver liquid, flecked with blue. She turned to Steve, holding it up gently.  
"This is a variation of the missing serum. I don't know if it will work" She put it in the hip pocket of her S.H.I.E.L.D uniform.  
"We need to try" Steve said, scooping Rebekah up and running to the hangar.

Observation Room 23

After a while, a jumble of footsteps sounded from outside observation room 23. There was a yell and a boom. Uleyna got to her feet in a rush, changing into smoke and slipping under the door. Bruce got to work immediately, tugging at the ropes that bound his ankles, twisting them to try to find the knot. Voices sounded from outside, gunshots echoed. Low murmurs. A loud whirring noise sounded.

"WHERE IS BRUCE?!" A loud voice shouted from the hall. Bruce sat up quickly, abandoning all attempts to free himself as another voice shouted. "Bruce! Bruce! Where are you Big Guy?" The heavy sound of bodies hitting the floor. Steve...And Tony! They'd found him!  
"IN HERE! ROOM 23!" Bruce shouted weakly, the effort of yelling making his head spin.

There was a loud crash as the door fell from its hinges, banging down on the floor. In the doorway, stood Tony, Steve, Clint and a blonde-haired woman, pale and sick looking.  
"Bruce! Holy shit Big Guy!" Tony shouted. "Quick! Untie him!" Steve said, and Tony rushed forward, his dextrous fingers making short work of the large knot at the back of the chair. With his ankles freed, Tony made to heave him out of the chair but Bruce shook his head.  
"The sedative." He said simply, and Tony's eyes travelled up to the long tube.  
"Rebekah, come here" Tony said, and Steve took the woman's arm, half-carrying her as she walked towards them. Clint stood at the doorway, watching the hall like the hawk for which he was named. The room shook again.  
Her face paled as she kneeled before Bruce, fiddling with the tube.  
"Yes, that is the sedative" She said, her voice soft.  
"What will happen if I take it out?" Bruce asked the woman, her eyes flickered to the I.V bag over Bruce's head.  
"I don't know" Rebekah said, and Tony looked over at her incredulously. "But there is something else I could try"

Bruce watched as she placed her fingertips on his arm. Steve put his hand over hers.  
"No" He said "You're too weak"  
"I don't really have a choice" Rebekah countered, and Steve sighed, retracting his hand obligingly.

Another roar shook the foundations of the facility.  
"What was that?" Clint asked.  
"They...They used my blood"  
Tony's face went white. "Shit!" He exclaimed.  
"On a teenage boy, Gerald"  
"Double shit!"  
"Language, Mr Stark" Rebekah mumbled. Tony laughed lightly.  
"Damn, Grandma just chastised me"  
"I'll ignore that for your sake Mr Stark"  
Another roar, more crashes and bangs, the sound of metal being abused.

Rebekah reached into her pocket and handed Tony the vial of another serum.  
"Take this, I don't know what will happen if we switch forms, we keep our minds, lose our tone of voice, and we are influenced by the other's emotions" Bruce's eyes widened.  
"Switch forms?! No, then" Bruce said. "You might become the Hulk,"  
"Are you not as calm on the inside as what can been seen from the out, Dr Banner?" Bruce sighed, Rebekah smiled weakly and continued. "Worst case scenario I do change, I keep my mind, remember? It's okay"

"Uh, guys. We got company for our little cuppa and a chat" Clint said, shooting arrows repeatedly, taking large strides backwards as the group of T.I.D.E guards surged into the room. The team sprung into action, except Bruce, still attached to the drip. Rebekah's hot left hand rested on Bruce's knee until a guard approached, by which time a small flash of silver in her hand caught Bruce's eye. She began turning away from Bruce and facing the guard. There was a blinding flash of white light that made Bruce hiss and clap his hands over his eyes. When he moved his hands, she was still there, yet she was different also.

With an agile spin, she revealed to Bruce the small throwing knife in her hand, covered in green swirls, and a bracelet on left wrist of the exact colour and design. Lunging forward at the guard, she launched the knife through the air, it planted firmly in his neck. Rebekah winced as his body hit the floor.

With a flick of her fingers, the knife edged its way out of the guard's neck, whizzing through the air and back into Rebekah's waiting hand. With a move so swift Bruce's eyes nearly missed it, Rebekah uncovered another knife, circling Bruce watchfully.  
"What are those?" Bruce asked, ducking as a rogue replusor beam soared over his head.  
"Magna-knife" Rebekah replied, as the deadly weapon claimed another victim. "An invention of mine. The knife collects the magnetic energy generated, transmitting it straight to the receiver bracelet, which, when needed, will use the magnetic energy to summon the knife back, which has a magnet in the handle." Another tried to go for the small blonde woman, again unsuccessful. "The blade is slightly hollow, and filled with palytoxin" Tony looked around at her incredulously. "Just to make sure they don't get up again" She said defensively as the last two guards hit the floor. The team sighed as a louder roar shook the facility.

Rebekah knelt beside Bruce.  
"This is going to be hard to do, to get the timing right is crucial"  
"What do you have to do?"  
"They stopped injecting you 1 hour after putting it in" Rebekah said, fiddling with the serum in the tube. "It has begun to set"  
"Powerful sedative..." Bruce said.  
"Poisonous..." Rebekah corrected. "No poison can kill you, correct? Antiarin is a poison that causes respiratory paralysis. It would only slow your heart-rate down, freezing the change if diluted correctly"  
"You know your poisons." Clint said and Rebekah nodded.  
"I've been dosed with belladonna, arsenic and mercury before, assassination attempts. Mercury was accidental...Lab explosion" Rebekah replied. "I can't be poisoned"  
"That's why you're doing this?" Steve asked, Rebekah turned to him, blushing slightly and nodded. Her eyes widened as she stared over his shoulder.  
"Duck, Steve" She yelled, he pressed to the floor quickly as Rebekah hurled a knife, it seemed to whistle, cutting through the air. Bruce though he saw it leave a visible mark. With a sickening wet tearing sound, and an odd thump. A body hit the floor.  
"Damn, wrong knife." Rebekah muttered as the team turned to see the man, blood spilling from his shoulder, the held the hilt of the knife, shaking. "That knife wasn't poisoned" Rebekah ran gracefully over to the body, jumping delicately over the others, landing silently in a crouch beside the man. She inhaled sharply. "General Ross?" The next line came from Tony's mouth, as cold and harsh as the biting wind on Antarctica.

"Kill the bastard, slowly."


	8. Uh, Oh (PLEASE READ)

Hey Guys,

Sorry...It's been ages since I updated...I am at a loss with what to do with this story. I am in the process of creating another. White Knightress knows this. And when it is complete, I will try to regather my wits and return to this fan-fiction. You are all free to hate me now.

Until I Can Assemble My Thoughts, This Fan-Fiction Is **On Hold.**

**Sorry, But Keep A Look Out For A New Fanfiction Of Mine : **

**Tangled Ties I - The Cursèd Ak Degeri Hanu**

**I promise an interesting story... one that speaks a language all its own.**

_**"We have decided...You are on watch"**_

TTFN,

Holy Musical Batman.


End file.
